More magic in Middleville for Lady Dawgs

Ionia wins fourth-straight at Thornapple-Kellogg, advance to regional final

By Alan BabbittGateHouse News Service

The Ionia girls basketball team has embraced a second home court.

The Bulldogs won for the fourth time this season at Middleville Thornapple-Kellogg High School on Tuesday, defeating state-ranked Hamilton 42-27 in the Class B regional semifinals.

Ionia (15-8 overall) earned a fifth and final game at Middleville on Thursday in the 7 p.m. regional final.

"We've been here a lot this year," Ionia coach Andrew Barr said, referring to one regular-season win and two in district play last week. "We've won all four. We're happy to be coming back Thursday."

The Bulldogs ended Hamilton's record-setting season at 21-2 behind a game-high 18 points from Taylor Bovee and 16 from Sarah Swartz.

Hamilton had not lost since a 60-51, nonleague defeat at Class A Grandville on Dec. 27 — a span of 15 games.

Tuesday marked Hamilton's lowest scoring game of the season, too. The Hawkeyes shot 22 percent from the field (10-of-45), including 0-of-20 from 3-point range.

"I'd say we usually connect on 33 percent of our 3-pointers," Hamilton coach Dan VanHekken said. "Obviously I think they knew who our scorers were. They played Ashley (Overbeek) a little bit tighter than a normal defense.

"I thought we had some good looks in the first half, but who would have thought we would have gone 0-20 for 3-pointers?"

Ionia — making its first regional appearance since 2004 — held the Hawkeyes to seven points during the second half. Hamilton made two field goals and three free throws over the final two quarters.

Overbeek, Hamilton's leading scorer, finished with a team-high eight points — six below her season average.

"Defensively, we've been playing really well," Barr said. "We've been locking people down, and we're challenging shots. People are getting shots, but there's a hand in their face."

"I saw them in film, and they really hit lights out against Holland Christian, so we knew we really had to get back and not give them anything easy, early or all night long. We really stressed that yesterday in practice."

Hamilton recovered from a 14-8 first-quarter deficit to lead 19-18 at halftime.

Ionia, however, put together a 11-0 run early during the third quarter for a 29-20 lead with 4:12 remaining. Two Bovee layups and one 3-pointer for her fueled the decisive stretch.

"We got off to a good offensive start by attacking the basket," Barr said. "In the second quarter, we started shooting lots of 3s instead of going to the basket. We ended up with (five) in the second quarter because we were settling.